Gravity Forms has had some good success selling their (GPL) plugin in recent weeks, and the Shopp plugin has been going for awhile, too. I, myself, have plans to “go commercial” sometime in the coming months as well.

I’d like your opinion on the slow, but definite growth of paid WordPress plugins. Are you glad that developers are finally getting serious about developing and supporting plugins for the long term, and making a business of it? I am.

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I haven't voted, as there's no option I particularly agree with. Just because a plug-in is commercial doesn't mean its necessarily any better a commercial one, and nor will the existence of some paid plugins mean the disappearance of the existing or future free plugins, so its not not going to 'ruin WordPress'.
Choice is good for developers and users …

http://intensedebate.com/people/redwall_hp redwall_hp

I don't think that free plugins will go away either. I do think that we'll be seeing a lot of new, more complex plugins that deliver frequent updates and stellar support as a result of being run as a business venture rather than simply a hobby. Gravity Forms seems to be a good example of that. It's very polished, and they're serious about what they're doing.

I'm just trying to get a feel for which direction people lean toward: Open to having more paid plugins (though I'm sure we'll still see plenty of free options) on the market, so penny-pinching and self-entitled that they think there shouldn't be any.

In retrospect the options seem a little extreme and polarized. There should probably be one or two in the middle

http://blog.uprinting.com Jen | UPrinting

I voted for "great idea". I've always thought that there should always be paid and free resources around, to encourage a healthy competition in terms of quality for both sides. Besides, it's ultimately up to the developer if s/he feels the plugin will grow better when it's free, or when people pay for it, right? There are lot of factors that have to be taken in consideration.

So basically I just took the "cheering by the sidelines" viewpoint…

http://intensedebate.com/people/redwall_hp redwall_hp

That's my viewpoint, pretty much. Some plugins are better off free, others will have a better shot at growth if they take a paid model. Things get even more interesting with plugins like the oft-mentioned Gravity Forms. They charge for the plugin, but its still GPL. You won't get it from the original source for free, but you can give a copy to your friend if you want, they just might miss out on some extras like quick support. They seem to be doing well with that model, and it certainly is intriguing.